Field
This disclosure is generally related to distribution of digital content. More specifically, this disclosure is related to a method and system for name encryption agreement which allows a consumer to determine an index in a CCN name at which to begin encryption, based on a minimum routable prefix necessary for the interest to reach a producer in a content centric network.
Related Art
The proliferation of the Internet and e-commerce continues to create a vast amount of digital content. Content centric network (CCN) architectures have been designed to facilitate accessing and processing such digital content. A CCN includes entities, or nodes, such as network clients, forwarders (e.g., routers), and content producers, which communicate with each other by sending interest packets for various content items and receiving content object packets in return. CCN interests and content objects are identified by their unique names, which are typically hierarchically structured variable length identifiers (HSVLI). An HSVLI can include contiguous name components ordered from a most general level to a most specific level.
A CCN data packet (such as an interest or content object) is routed based on its name. Some name components may be used by an intermediate node to route a CCN interest, while other name components may be used by a content producer to satisfy a request based on private user information or application-specific data. In the latter case, the meaningfulness of the name components may reveal information regarding the requested content and may result in a breach of user privacy or security. A consumer may encrypt the interest name, but a sufficient number of name components must remain unencrypted for routing purposes. This “minimum routable prefix” is the maximal name length (e.g., maximum number of name components) needed to route an interest to a content producer who can satisfy the content request.
While a CCN brings many desired features to a network, some issues remain unsolved for a consumer in determining the minimum routable prefix for an interest name.